Fusee cap

ABSTRACT

A fusee cover wherein the end wall is provided with a first set of parallel grooves extending transversely with respect to a second set of parallel grooves. A scratch mix is adhered to the end wall and extends into the grooves.

United States Patent Wilkaitis 51 Mar. 14, 1972 [54] FUSEE CAP 1,153,087 9/1915 Jackson ..l02/37.8 X ,954 4 1 D l ..44 48 Mam, 2 823,094 55131 Ja c on "102/3714 x [73] Assignee: Olln Corporation Primary Examiner-Robert F. Stahl Flledl 1970 Attorney-Donald R. Motsko, H. Samuel Kieser and William [2i] Appl. No.: 7,897 w'hnes V [57] ABSTRACT [52] 102/373 A fusee cover wherein the end wall is provided with a first set [51] Co6d 1/10 of parallel grooves extending transversely with respect to a Of ..44/48; second sct of parallel grooyes A scratch mix i adhered to the end wall and extends into the grooves. [56] References Cited 4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,530,795 9/1970 Denis et al. ..l02/37.8

w n V 24 fifli zd is J \Z/ Patented Ma rph 14, 1972 3,648,615

INVENTOR= NORMAN J. W/L/(AI T IS ATTORNEY FUSEE CAP This invention relates generally to the art of fusees and more particularly to a cap for a fusee which includes a scratch mix adhered thereto.

At the present time there is an attempt to provide fusee caps made from plastic which can be used to cover the end of the fusee. Such caps may include a sheath member having a scratch mix attached to its outer end wall. This scratch mix is used to ignite the igniting material contained within the fusee body and having a button extending therefrom. Various attempts have been made in an effort to have this material adhere properly to the plastic material. However, it has been found that there has been problems when the fusee is ignited as severe frictional forces are present and the scratch mix breaks loose from the sheath.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved fusee cap with a scratch mix thereon.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved method of adhering a scratch mix to a fusee cap.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a fusee cap wherein the scratch mix thereon has improved adherance with the cap.

These and other objects of the present invention will become more apparent from reference to the following description of a preferred embodiment and to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view of a fusee provided with a cap constructed in accordance with the present invention;

PK]. 2 is a top view of the sheath portion of the cap shown in FIG. I, prior to the application of the scratch mix;

HO. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of the cap shown in FIG. 2 indicated by the dotted circle;

FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view taken along the lines 44 of FIG. 3.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1, a fusee body 2 is shown which may comprise a cylindrical paper tube 4 closed at its rearward end by a plug 6. For the purposes of this description, the ignitable end of the fusee will be referred to as the forward end, and the opposite end referred to as the rearward end. The rearward end portion 8 of the tube 4 is folded over and crimped against the plug 6 which is simultaneously compressed in a direction parallel to the tube 4 to form a sturdy watertight closure. The tube 4 is charged with an appropriate pyrotechnic composition 10, the composition of which is determined by the color of the light and smoke to be generated. The pyrotechnic composition is tamped in the tube 4, or otherwise compressed, to nearly fill the tube 4. A small cavity 12 is made in the upper end of the compressed pyrotechnic mixture 10, and the forward portion of the tube 4 is then bent to form an upper crimp 14 over the top of the pyrotechnic composition 10. A match head mixture 16 of a conventional suitable composition is positioned within the cavity 12 and extends above the upper crimp 14 to serve as a match head and as a seal.

The upper portion of the fusee body 2 is fitted with a cap indicated generally by 18. The cap includes a sheath or cover 20 having a tubular body 21 and a forward end wall 22. An elongated post portion 24 extends radially outwardly from the outer surface of the tubular body 21. This post portion 24 is simply a fingerlike projection having a relatively small cross section area and being more rigid in a direction in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the sheath 20 than in the direction parallel thereto. The internal surface of the tubular body 21 contains a circumferentially extending bend 26 which serves to frictionally retain the sheath 20 on the fusee body 2 as well as seal the match head 16 and pyrotechnic composition 10 from moisture. The outer surface of the tubular body 21 is provided with a circumferentially extending locking rib 28 which is positioned forward of the post portion 24. A scratch mix 30 of any conventional suitable composition is attached to the outer surface of the end wall 22 in a manner to be described below.

The cap also includes a lid 34 which covers the forward end of the sheath 20. The lid includes a sidewall 36 and an end wall 38. The internal surface of the sidewall 36 of the lid is provided with a circumferentially extending locking rib 40. Locking rib 40 cooperates with locking rib 28 on the sheath 20 to retain the lid 34 on the sheath 20. The lid 34 is also provided with a tab 42 adjacent the free end of the sidewall 36 to facilitate the removal of the lid 34 from the sheath 20 to expose the scratch mix 30.

it is to be understood that the sheath 20, including its end wall 22 and integral post 24, is preferably made from plastic in one piece by injection molding. Likewise, the lid 34 is also manufactured preferably from plastic in one piece by injection molding. Preferably such plastic is polyethylene.

As shown in FIG. 2, the top of the end wall of sheath 20 is provided with a first series of parallel grooves 44 which intersect a second series of parallel grooves 46. The series of grooves preferably intersect at right angles toeach other. The grooves may be V-shaped in cross section and be from about 0.001 inch to 0.050 inch deep although in the preferred embodiment, the depth of the grooves is 0.020 inch.

The grooves of each set are spaced from each other a distance such that there are 40 to above grooves per inch. in the preferred embodiment there are 40 grooves per inch resulting in each groove being spaced 0.025 inch from its adjacent groove.

The grooves may be applied to the sheath 20 by means of a wire screen of suitable mesh to provide the proper spacing. The pattern can be impressed into the sheath 20 during the injection-molding process or by physically forcing a screen into heat-softened plastic.

The scratch mix 30 is preferably applied to the end wall 22 of sheath 20 in slurry form and then dried. After the scratch mix becomes hardened, a suitable waterproofing composition 48 may be applied over the scratch mix 30 to protect it against moisture. The waterproofing composition 48 should have nonlubricative properties so as not to be detrimental to ignition. For example, a suitable overspray of lacquer or varnish could be utilized for water resistance.

With the cap 18 positioned on the fusee body 2 in the manner shown in FIG. 1, the bead 26 will frictionally retain the sheath 20 on the fusee body 2 as well as protect the match head and fusee composition from moisture and damage. Likewise, by virtue of the locking ribs 28 and 40, the lid 34 is retained on the forward end of the sheath 20 to protect the scratch mix 30.

When it is desired to ignite the fusee body 2, the operator can easily remove the lid 34 to expose the scratch mix 30 by grasping the tab 42 to move the locking ribs out of engage ment with each other and remove the cap. The sheath 20 can be removed from the fusee body 2 by grasping the side wall 38 thereof and pulling it relative to the fusee body 2 and slightly twisting.

With the sheath 20 removed from the fusee body 2 and the lid 34 removed from the sheath 20 both the scratch mix 30 and the match head 16 are exposed. The fusee body 2 can then be ignited by scraping the scratch mix 30 across the match head 16. lt has been found that with the present method of adhering the scratch mix to the plastic sheath, the scratch mix will stay in place under the severe frictional forces which occur during the igniting operation.

What is claimed is:

l. A plastic fusee cover adapted to be placed over the end of a fusee and which is provided with a scratch mix, said cover including a tubular side wall and an integral end wall, said end wall having a first set of spaced parallel grooves and a second set of spaced parallel grooves intersecting said first set and extending substantially perpendicular thereto, said sets of grooves forming a plurality of lands separated by said grooves, said scratch mix adhered to said end wall and extending into said grooves.

2. The cap of claim 1 wherein the grooves in each set are spaced such that there are between 20 to about 80 grooves per inch.

3. The cap of claim 1 wherein the grooves are between 0.001 to 0.050 inch deep.v

4. The cap of claim 1 further including a hardened water-resistant coating over said scratch mix.

I! i I! I: t 5 

1. A plastic fusee cover adapted to be placed over the end of a fusee and which is provided with a scratch mix, said cover including a tubular side wall and an integral end wall, said end wall having a first set of spaced parallel grooves and a second set of spaced parallel grooves intersecting said first set and extending substantially perpendicular thereto, said sets of grooves forming a plurality of lands separated by said grooves, said scratch mix adhered to said end wall and extending into said grooves.
 2. The cap of claim 1 wherein the grooves in each set are spaced such that there are between 20 to about 80 grooves per inch.
 3. The cap of claim 1 wherein the grooves are between 0.001 to 0.050 inch deep.
 4. The cap of claim 1 further including a hardened water-resistant coating over said scratch mix. 